Grand Jury report finds overcrowding, undetected drugs at Santa Cruz County detention facilities
UPDATE: The 2018-19 Santa Cruz County Civil Grand Jury has released a report on its inspection of detention facilities in the county, and it found several ongoing issues.
The Grand Jury toured the Main Jail, Blaine Street Women’s Facility, Rountree Detention Facility, Juvenile Hall, the Court Holding Cell in Santa Cruz and Conservation Camp #45 in Ben Lomond.
They recommend further investigation into several issues. The report says that drugs have come into all facilities undetected, overcrowding at the Main Jail is an ongoing issue, staff shortages are resulting in mandatory overtime and staff are forced to commute long distances because of unaffordable housing locally.
Undersheriff, Craig Wilson, said these issues are nothing new, but they are looking for new ways to mitigate them. He said overcrowding has been a problem since the jail opened in the early 80’s.
“One of the things we’ve done recently is look at the rest of our facilities, we run three others correctional facilities besides the main jail, so we’ve increased the utilization of those facilities. They’re running up towards 90% now so that took some of the pressure off of the main jail.”
Wilson said the Sheriff’s Office has also requested a committee be made to focus on what driving the inmate population. “Just this week Sheriff Hart called for a criminal justice committee on jail crowding. So we’ve reached out and will have representatives on that committee.”
Another challenge the Sheriff’s Office is facing, drug smuggling. The Undersheriff said while this too is not a new issue, it is getting worst. “We are seeing more and more medical emergencies that are leading to some tragic consequences as the result of drugs coming into the jail.”
Tuesday, officials were tipped off that an inmate was planning to smuggle drugs into the jail. They say Justin Fenn turned himself for a warrant and when he got there, corrections staff had a search warrant and x-ray waiting for him. They found more than 2 ounces of several drugs in his body cavity.
“It was a large mixture of many different substances, nearly an ounce of methamphetamine, an ounce of heroin, tobacco, marijuana, Suboxone and syringes as well. So all of these items were concealed in the subjects body,” said Sgt. Dee Baldwin.
That amount could be deadly, “this could be a lethal dose for a number of people, not only the individual whose smuggling the items into the jail, one of those bags ruptures that would surely prove lethal. Additionally that could result in an overdose of dozens of other inmates in the facility.”
To help mitigate the drug problem, the Sheriff’s Office is hoping to get funding for a body screening machine and drug sniffing dog. They will be discussing both of those options at the County’s budget hearing this week.
“Leasing or purchasing a body scanner if the board approves it for our main jail, much like the kind you see at the airports and it will also include bringing on a specially trained narcotic sniffing dogs to work in corrections,” said Undersheriff Wilson.
In the Grand Jury report they recommended the following:
Researching and evaluating body scanning equipment to detect drugs. Evaluating long-term solutions to overcrowding at the Main Jail. Addressing effects of mandatory overtime. Setting a target date for implementing recommendations within the next six months.
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PREVIOUS STORY: The 2018-19 Santa Cruz County Civil Grand Jury has released a report on its inspection of detention facilities in the county, and it found several ongoing issues.
The Grand Jury toured the Main Jail, Blaine Street Women’s Facility, Rountree Detention Facility, Juvenile Hall, the Court Holding Cell in Santa Cruz and Conservation Camp #45 in Ben Lomond.
They recommend further investigation into several issues. The report says that drugs have come into all facilities undetected, overcrowding at the Main Jail is an ongoing issue, staff shortages are resulting in mandatory overtime and staff are forced to commute long distances because of unaffordable housing locally.
The Grand Jury also offered recommendations in the report. They include:
Researching and evaluating body scanning equipment to detect drugs. Evaluating long-term solutions to overcrowding at the Main Jail. Addressing effects of mandatory overtime. Setting a target date for implementing recommendations within the next six months.
KION’s Ashley Keehn will have more at 5 and 6 p.m.
